The Health Department will start dishing out free insulin sticks to Type 2 diabetes patients as of next Monday.

Health minister Chris Fearne told a press conference that the scheme will be rolled out gradually, starting with diabetes patients from Gudja, St Julian's, Mgarr and Kercem (Gozo) this month and extending to the whole of Malta by the end of the year.

Around 1,000 Type 1 diabetes patients are already benefitting from free insulin sticks. With around 5,000 Type 2 diabetes patients on the island who each require at least four daily insulin doses, the government will now start purchasing around 25,000 insulin sticks a day at an annual cost of €500,000.

Fearne added that the Health Department will use the occasion to try out a new procurement method - purchasing the insulin sticks from agents and handing them out directly to pharmacies, bypassing the Mater Dei storages. He said that this system is expected to cut costs relates to storage and manpower.